Drowning in the same style: How database creation within online design platforms affects visual style homogenization

• Explores how platform-based design tools affect the stylistic outcomes of digital visual production. • Employs a qualitative methodology with 71 participants across three user groups. • Identifies a strong correlation between non-professional use of templates and stylistic convergence. • Finds that professional designers exhibit more resistance to stylistic homogenization but are still influenced by platform structures. • Contributes to theoretical discussions of tool agency and visual culture in the platform era. This study investigates how online design platforms influence the stylistic homogenization of visual outputs, with particular attention to the role of tools, user identity, and platform affordances. Drawing on theories of technological mediation and style formation, the research adopts a qualitative approach combining in-depth interviews with 71 participants—including professional, semi-professional, and non-professional designers—and case analysis of design outcomes. Findings reveal that while tools do not deterministically dictate style, they exert significant influence through embedded templates, material libraries, and fiction affordance. Non-professional users, in particular, tend to follow default stylistic patterns, leading to visual convergence across outputs. Professional designers demonstrate more agency in overcoming tool constraints, but are still influenced by platform logic and industry expectations. The study contributes to current debates on design homogenization in digital environments, emphasizing the need for critical engagement with design tools in education and practice.